USA > New York > Nassau County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 31
USA > New York > Suffolk County > Long Island; a history of two great counties, Nassau and Suffolk, Volume III > Part 31
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Mr. Switzer married Teresa E. Snyder, of Brook- lyn, in that borough on February I, 1927. Mrs. Swit- zer is the daughter of Joseph and Ida (Cramer) Snyder. Mr. Switzer's hobbies are inost sports.
GEORGE C. TERRY-A native of Southold, George C. Terry has practiced the law in that Suffolk County village for more than a quarter of a century, representing many important clients, and has also taken an active part in the religious and fraternal life of the community. Able, experienced, popular and held in universal respect, he has also been called upon to fill responsible public offices.
Born on July 26, 1884, Mr. Terry began his studies in the public schools, after which he attended the old Southold Academy before going to Canton, New York, where he graduated from high school in 1903. Enrolling at St. Lawrence University, he obtained his degree of Bachelor of Science from that institution in 1907, and having at this time determined on a legal career, he took up his studies in that profession at
the Albany Law School, in New York State's capital city, where he received his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1910. That same year he was admitted to the New York State bar.
Mr. Terry began his career in the general practice of law in St. Lawrence County, New York, in 1910. In 1913 he accepted a place on the legal staff of the General Accident Casualty Company in New York City, where he continued until 1917. The North Country seems to have attracted him at that period, for we find him again in practice in St. Lawrence County from 1917 to 1919, but in the latter year he returned to his native Southold, evidently deciding that Suffolk County with its mild climate, rich farms, deep bays and fine old villages, is the ideal place to live and to make a career. He has remained in Southold ever since that time, a leading citizen of his community and a well-known figure at the bar of Long Island. He is now the senior member of the firm of Terry & Krupski.
Among Mr. Terry's clients are the Southold Sav- ings Bank and the Bank of Southold. Of the former institution he is a trustee. His banking interests in- clude also the First National Bank of Cutchogue, of which he is vice president and a member of the board of directors.
Since 1923 Mr. Terry has been attorney for the town of Southold, and he is also a member of the Suffolk County Civil Service Commission. A Republican in politics, he holds membership in the Suffolk County Republican Club and in the National Republican Club of New York City. His professional affiliations are with the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association and the Suffolk County Bar Association. Of the last-named group Mr. Terry was president in 1943 and 1944.
Mr. Terry also serves as chairman of the board of trustees of the Universalist Church of Southold. He is active in fraternal circles as a member of Peconic Lodge No. 349 of Greenport, Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of Southold Lodge No. 373 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and of the Southold Rotary Club.
In July, 1933, at Morris, in Otsego County, New York, George C. Terry was married to Hedvig Ped- ersen, a daughter of C. P. Pedersen. They are the parents of four children, namely: I. Anna, who was born at Southold on August 16, 1934. 2. Marion, born on March 24, 1936. 3. George N., born August 14, 1940. 4. Thomas, born on January 31, 1943.
JOSEPH A. STANCO-As contractor and public official, Joseph A. Stanco has had an important part in the development of his native Glen Cove, espe- cially where actual physical construction is concerned. Mr. Stanco is now commissioner of public works and building inspector of that community, also a leader in Catholic circles, in the Sons of Italy in America and in the Republican party.
He was born in Glen Cove on November 30, 1904. the son of Angelo and Christina (Pascucci) Stanco. The elder Mr. Stanco, a painting and decorating con- tractor in Glen Cove, died December 29, 1930. Mrs. Stanco makes her home in that community.
Joseph Stanco was educated in the elementary and high schools of Glen Cove and then learned the carpenter's trade. He followed this vocation for some years and in 1926 stepped up from it into the contracting business, which he conducted until 1933. when he was appointed deputy commissioner of public works, a post he held for six years. In 1940
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Gerb. Terry
George I Still
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and 1941, he was again a contractor. In 1942, he became Glen Cove's building inspector and the follow- ing year he was elected commissioner of public works. Two years later he was re-elected to that office.
Mr. Stanco is a trustee of St. Rocco's Roman Catholic Church and has been treasurer since 1936 of the Glen Cove Lodge of the Sons of Italy in America. He is a former president of the Glen Cove Republican Club and is a member of the Carpenters and Joiners Union, Local No. 1093, of Glen Cove.
Mr. Stanco married Nuncia Martino of Glen Cove on May 8, 1926. She is the daughter of Michael and Margaret (Galante) Martino. One son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Stanco, Joseph Angelo, on April 18, 1928.
CHARLES P. DICKERSON-Except for several years of military service during World War II, Charles P. Dickerson, of Sayville, has engaged in the real estate and insurance business in this city. His range of more personal interests enter a wide variety of fields and he is especially active in movements and organizations that work for the progress of communities and the welfare of their people.
Mr. Dickerson was born at Bayshore, New York, in 1903, son of John Prescott and Delcie (Newton) Dickerson, his father being prominent as a realtor and insurance man, establishing the J. P. Dickerson Agency in 1920. After completing his education, Charles Prescott Dickerson became associated with his father in business, and, as indicated, has since been identified with insurance and real estate operations.
In World War II, he became a soldier with the 313th Engineer Battalion, 88th Infantry Division, United States Army, and served overseas in North Africa and Italy. During the three and one-half years he was in the armed forces, he was wounded in action and was awarded the Purple Heart decoration. Mr. Dickerson is a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, of the Rotary International, and fraternally is affiliated with the Connetquot Lodge, No. 838, Free and Accepted Masons. His interest in Long Island annals is evidenced by membership in the Sayville Historical Society. In politics he is a Republican, member of the Suffolk County Republican Club. He attends the Sayville Congregational Church and is generous in his support of religious and humanitarian undertakings.
HOWARD MELVILLE BRUSH, JR. - The Brush homestead, the site of which is now occupied by the Smithtown Theater on Main Street, Smithtown Branch, was one of the earliest landmarks in the com- munity, established by a Brush family, pioneer in Suffolk County. Since the days of its development, the name of Brush has been distinguished in the affairs of not only Smithtown but all Suffolk County, for members of the family-through six generations, including Howard Melville Brush, Jr .- have made important contributions to the progress and well being of the community and county. Formerly with the Smithtown Highway Department, and once also associated with his famous father in the trucking business, Howard Melville Brush, Jr., today con- tinues his contribution to progress both as a road builder and distributor of municipal machinery, being head of the Island Asphalt Company, in which he was associated with the late F. A. Naufftus, and a
partner in the Municipal Machinery Company, both in Coram.
As has been indicated, the Brush family has long been established in and about Smithtown. The first of them known to record was Elijah Brush, who was born October 17, 1799, at Smithtown Branch. His son, Egbert Brush, was also born there March 7, 1833. Egbert's son, Melville E. Brush, who was born November 18, 1859, was at one time sheriff of Suffolk County. He was born and raised on the Brush home- stead, Main Street, Smithtown Branch. In middle life he acquired a large tract of land on the south side of Main Street, occupying the territory now between the railroad station and Highway Route No. III, and including the present Miller's Pond. On this property he maintained a private quarter-mile track for horse racing; in the area that would now be bounded by Lawrence and Maple avenues. There is a house on Maple Avenue that was used as the judge's stand for the track. In later years he moved, with his son Howard M. Brush, Sr., into a residence that is now used as the Home Economics Building of the Smithtown High School. Howard M. Brush, Sr., who was born May 30, 1884, was engaged in the trucking business in his native community for many years. He was also the first postmaster at Smithtown Branch, a post he held for some twenty-three years. He married Myra Wheeler, also a native of Smith- town, and was the father of Howard Melville Brush, Jr.
Mr. Brush was born at Smithtown Branch on No- vember 4, 1908, the son of Howard M. and Myra (Wheeler) Brush. He was educated in local elemen- tary high schools. For a year after completing his schooling, he was associated with his father in the trucking business, and the following eight years he worked as shop mechanic for the Smithtown Highway Department.
In April, 1937, Mr. Brush became associated with Mr. Naufftus in the Island Asphalt Company, which was founded at Stony Brook. A year later he became a stockholder in the company and in November, 1939, he was elected its secretary. By April, 1943, he was a third owner of the business, and, in consequence, was elected to the vice presidency. Upon the death of Mr. Naufftus on January 13, 1947, Mr. Brush suc- ceeded him as president, and this office he continues to hold. The firm is not only in the road construction business but also takes contracts to apply bulk asphalt. It employs as many as fifty persons. For some time, Mr. Brush has also been a partner in the ownership and operation of the Municipal Machinery Company, another firm with Coram headquarters.
Mr. Brush is a member of the Lions Club of Smith- town, the Smithtown Chamber of Commerce and the Smithtown Fire Department. His church is the Methodist.
In September, 1933, Howard Melville Brush, Jr., married Elsie Hesse, of Nesconset, daughter of Adolph and Marie Hesse, at the St. James Episcopal Church, in Smithtown. They are the parents of two children: I. Lila June, who was born March 18, 1940. 2. Howard Melville, III, who was born October 22, 1941.
GEORGE WILFRED STILL-Activities in the fields of education, the United States Navy and busi- ness, have all come within the career of George Wil- fred Still, of Holtsville, Long Island. He was born
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in Coram, New York, February 2, 1909, son of Edward Stephen and Charlotte (Magilton) Still, and was edu- cated in the public schools of his birthplace, the Patchogue High School, class of 1927, the State In- stitute of Applied Agriculture, Farmingdale, New York, 1928, the Potsdam State Normal School, at Potsdam, New York, where he was graduated cum laude, class of 1934. He received the Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University in 1938, and the degree of Master of Arts, in 1939.
While continuing his studies in various colleges and universities, Mr. Still acquired much excellent ex- perience in his profession by teaching. He taught grade schools on Long Island at Riverhead for two years and was principal in Ronkonkoma for an equal length of time. For the next five years he was super- vising principal at Island Park, when he resigned to join the United States Navy on May 3, 1943.
Starting his naval service as a lieutenant, junior grade, George W. Still was later promoted to lieuten- ant in August of 1944 and was appointed a lieutenant commander in December, 1945. His education and experience were utilized as an educational expert with the United States Navy V-12 Program, stationed at Ursinus College. He organized and administered the Naval Academy Preparatory School at Williamsburg, Virginia, and after the completion of this tour of duty, Commander Still was transferred to the Bureau of Naval Personnel at Washington, D. C., where he served in an administrative capacity to the V-12 and the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps programs. In August, 1946, he was placed on inactive duty, but in June of the following year was recalled to organize and administer the affairs of the first naval school established in connection with the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, in Illinois.
Later in the year George W. Still left the Service and since 1946 has been associated with the Wendell Still Enterprises. In personal connections he is fra- ternally affiliated with Long Beach Lodge, No. 1048, Free and Accepted Masons, at Long Beach, New York; is a member of William Merritt Hallock Post, No. 155, American Legion, at Lake Ronkonkoma, and is a reserve officer of the Naval Services, Wash- ington, D. C. He is an active member of the Port Jefferson Rotary Club, and the Suffolk County Re- publican Club, of Timber Point. He is president of the thirty-fourth District Republican Club of Holts- ville and chairman of the local school board. He at- tends the Methodist Episcopal Church.
At Palmerton, Pennsylvania, on April 9, 1939, George Wilfred Still married Evalyn Grace Jones, of this place, daughter of John R. and Ada (Younkin) Jones. Mr. and Mrs. Still are the parents of two sons: I. George Theodore, born July 18, 1942. 2. Charles Timothy, born August 2, 1943.
ALANSON KETCHAM-The following record is that of Alanson Ketcham, builder, native and life- citizen of Farmingdale, of his children and of an- cestral origins. According to family records, Edward Ketcham who came to Ipswich, Massachusetts Bay Colony, in 1635, was the progenitor of the Ketcham family in America. Edward Ketcham died in Strat- ford, Connecticut, and his will was proved June 17, 1655. On Long Island, one John Ketcham, Sr., is named as one of the grantees in the Nicholl's Patent of Huntington, November 30, 1666. One of his
children, David, was born in Huntington, just two hundred years before the birth of Alanson Ketcham of this record.
Joshua Ketcham (David, John, Edward), was mar- ried, June 6, 1737, to Jerusha Whitman. Their second son, Zebulon Ketcham, was born October 21, 1782, and died February 18, 1858. He married, January 9, 1803, Hannah Snedicor, who was the daughter of John and Charity (Conklin) Snedicor, born April 10, 1782, and died August 13, 1871. She was the great- grandmother of Alanson Ketcham. Charity Snedicor died April 23, 1839, at the age of eighty-three years. Mr. and Mrs. Ketcham were the parents of ten chil- dren.
From the family Bible of Alanson Ketcham, Na- thaniel, son of Daniel, married, October 31, 1834, Charity Ketcham, daughter of Zebulon Ketcham. Nathaniel Ketcham was born May 5, 1807, and died September 21, 1883, at the age of seventy-six years, four months and sixteen days. Charity Ketcham was born December 16, 1819. They were the parents of the following children: I. Phebe Eliza, born Septem- ber 13, 1835; she married John Albin, and they were the parents of seven children. 2. Hannah M., born July 4, 1839, who married Joss Edwards. 3. Mahlon J., born December 26, 1842, married Martha E. Wal- ters, who was born April 25, 1853, and they were the parents of four children: i. Stewart W., born June 27, 1871. ii. Norman D., born November 28, 1874. iii. Raymond, born November 3, 1877. iv. Alanson, of whom further. 4. Antinett C., born November 10, 1846; married Harry Tuttle of Amityville, and they had several children.
Alanson Ketcham, son of Mahlon J. and Martha E. (Walters) Ketcham, was born at Farmingdale, August 28, 1883. His father was a mason and contractor of Long Island, and the son has followed somewhat in his footsteps, becoming a prominent builder. One of his chief personal interests is in the long Island Historical Society and the Huntington Historical Society. He worships in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is active in humanitarian and civic circles.
On November 25, 1907, at Farmingdale, Alanson Ketcham married Augusta C. Eckert, daughter of Charles C. and Eliza (Hubner) Eckert. Mr. and Mrs. Ketcham are the parents of four children: I. Mahlon, born September 26, 1908. 2. Duryea, born June 18, 1910. 3. LeRoy, born June II, 1912. 4. Kathryn M., born July 11, 1919.
EDWARD ROBINSON, JR .- An able and dis- tinguished member of the Long Island bar and for more than twenty years a leader in civic, political and fraternal affairs in Oyster Bay, Edward Robinson, Jr., was a native of New York City, where he was born on October 25, 1899. His parents, who are both living, are Edward and Mary (King) Robinson. The senior Edward Robinson, like his wife a native of County Carlow in Ireland, came to the United States as a young man of about nineteen years and was engaged in the dairy business in New York City for several years before becoming the superintendent of a private estate at Oyster Bay in Nassau County, a position from which he retired in 1929.
Edward Robinson, Jr., was educated at St. John's Parochial School in White Plains, Westchester Coun- ty, and at the White Plains High School, from which he graduated with the class of 1917. He had at an
Mercator @Fredrick
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early age chosen law as his profession, and, accord- ingly, he attended the famous Fordham Law School, from which he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1921. He was admitted to the bar in No- vember of that same year, and set up in practice in the city of New York, where he continued until 1924.
In that year Mr. Robinson transferred his practice to Oyster Bay, where he quickly made his mark in his profession and acquired an enviable clientele. In 1938 he became a partner of the Hon. Leonard W. Hall, a member of the Congress of the United States, and this association continues to the present time. Mr. Robinson, in politics a member of the Republican party, has been an assistant district attorney of Nassau County since January of 1938. He is a men- ber of the Nassau County Bar Association.
A Roman Catholic in religion and a communicant of the Church of St. Dominic of that denomination, Mr. Robinson is also an active and leading member of the great Catholic fraternal organization of the Knights of Columbus, in which he is a former district deputy. Another of his active interests is the Quentin Roose- velt Post Number Four of the American Legion, of which he is a past commander.
On June 18, 1931, Edward Robinson, Jr., married Helen C. Rahilly, a daughter of Thomas and Susan (Drany) Rahilly. There are three children of this marriage, namely: 1. Edward III, who was born on May 23, 1932. 2. Suzanne, born on November 29, 1935. 3. Margaret, born November 28, 1937.
Mr. Robinson's hobby is golf which he enjoys through his membership in the Brookville Country Club.
J. CHARLES ZIMMERMAN-By virtue of his public services, his civic interests and his fraternal connections, J. Charles Zimmerman became a leading citizen of Long Island's remarkable resort city of Long Beach, in Nassau County, long before he estab- lished his law practice in that place. Meanwhile, in the course of thirty-three years Mr. Zimmerman had risen high at the bar of metropolitan New York City, where he had a lucrative practice and many friends.
Mr. Zimmerman's father, the late Samuel Zimmer- man, was a native of Austria who was brought to the United States as a boy and lived to become a successful and popular restaurateur in New York City. He married Rose Grossberg, who was also born in Austria, and who is now deceased. Of this marriage J. Charles Zimmerman was born in the city of New York on April 18, 1892. He attended public school and the DeWitt Clinton High School, from which he graduated in 1908. The law was his choice of a profession and a career, and enrolling at the law school of New York University, he obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from that institution in 1912. In the following year he was admitted to the bar.
Beginning the practice of his profession in New York City, Mr. Zimmerman continued to maintain his office there until 1946, when he became a member of the firm of Zimmerman and Popper at Long Beach, with offices at 66 West Park Avenue. This firm en- gages in general legal practice, and from the begin- ning has represented important clients.
Meanwhile, from 1926 through 1945, for a period of twenty years, Mr. Zimmerman was city judge of the city of Long Beach. In 1945 he was elected to
the office of supervisor of the city of Long Beach for Nassau County, for a four year term. In politics Judge Zimmerman is a Democrat, active and influ- ential in his party's councils. He participates in the business and civic affairs of Long Beach, particularly as a member of the Lions Club. He is also affiliated with the Long Beach Lodge Number 1048 of the Free and Accepted Masons and with the Knights of Pythias Lodge Number 627, also of Long Beach. An- other of his fraternal allegiances is to Lodge Number 1515, at Lynbrook, Nassau County, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
At Brooklyn, New York, on April 22, 1917, J. Charles Zimmerman married Sarah Altman of that borough of New York City, a daughter of Aron and Tene (Greenberg) Altman. Of this marriage there are two children: I. Howard, who was born on September 8, 1918. During World War II he answered the call to the colors by joining the Army Air Forces, in which he held the rank of captain and saw action in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Howard Zim- merman married Ruth Drubych, a native of Brooklyn, New York. 2. Arthur, born on November 22, 1922. During World War II he served as a first lieutenant bombardier in the United States Army Air Forces.
MERCATOR COOPER KENDRICK-A famous name in American maritime history is that of Captain Mercator Cooper, whaling man and adventurer. Mer- cator Cooper Kendrick, the Riverhead attorney, is that celebrated seaman's great-grandson. Mr. Ken- drick has himself made a record on the sea, adding another page to the history of the Coopers and the Kendricks. In World War II he served with the United States Navy in the Pacific Theater of Opera- tions, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander.
Mr. Kendrick was born in Southampton on July 17, 1912, the son of the late Judge Robert R. and Clara (Howell) Kendrick, natives of Greenport and Southampton respectively.
Mercator Cooper Kendrick is a graduate of New York Military Academy and Washington and Jeffer- son College. In 1938 he received his degree of Bache- lor of Laws from the Brooklyn Law School. In June, 1941, he was admitted to the New York State bar, and entered practice as a member of the law firm of Fowler and Kendrick, in Riverhead.
Soon after he began his practice, Mr. Kendrick was commissioned a lieutenant (junior grade) in the United States Navy and from November, 1943 to June, 1945, he served as a gunnery officer on the destroyer fleet in the Pacific, seeing considerable action after Pearl Harbor. Subsequently, he was promoted to lieu- tenant commander and transferred to Norfolk, Vir- ginia, as a legal officer in the Fifth Naval District. His tenure of duty expired August, 1946, and, returning to his home in Southampton and his office in Riverhead, he resumed his civilian life and legal practice. His partner is Stanley Fowler.
Mr. Kendrick is a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, the Suffolk County Bar Association, the Elks Club of Southampton, the American Legion and the Rotary Club of Riverhead.
He married Carol Bailey Schwenk, daughter of Henry Schwenk and Florence Bailey Schwenk of Southampton, in that community on November 3, 1934. Mrs. Kendrick was educated in Martha Wash- ington Seminary, Marjorie Webster School and Miss Hicks's School, all in Washington, D. C. She and Mr. Kendrick are the parents of two children: Linda
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Merol, born in Southampton on January 13, 1940, and Deborah Cooper, born in Southampton on June 9, 1943.
LEWIS J. KALIN grew up working among and learning to understand flowers, and this early experi- ence doubtless was the fertile ground of his success as a commercial florist since he established himself in that field, at Greenport in Suffolk County, more than a quarter of a century ago.
Born at Glen Spey in the most mountainous part of Sullivan County, New York, on January 27, 1899, Lewis J. was a son of the late Gustave and the late Ida H. (Weber) Kalin, both of whom are buried at Glen Spey. Lewis J. Kalin attended public school in his native village and worked on a large private estate there before going to Stafford Springs, Connec- ticut, to take employment with a commercial florist. This was in 1920, and in March of the following year Mr. Kalin came to Long Island to work for I. M. Rayner, a leading florist at Greenport. In 1933 Mr. Kalin formed a business association with Mr. Rayner and the firm became known as Rayner and Kalin. Finally in 1940 Mr. Kalin purchased Mr. Rayner's interest, and since that time the business has been conducted in Mr. Kalin's name. Under his experienced management it continues to be highly successful and is among the large suppliers of flowers to the com- mercial market in New York City and elsewhere.
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